Thus, knowing their works, he overturns them in the night describes what God does because he knows how they act. The word translated Thus commonly means “therefore,” but as the verse stands, that meaning is not appropriate. Dhorme associates it with a similar connective in Arabic and translates “But.” Thus is achieved by dropping the prefix to the word. The best sense is probably “indeed,” “certainly,” “truly,” giving a translation such as “There is no doubt; he knows their deeds,” “He certainly knows the things they do.” Overturns means to take their power and authority from them. “He overthrows them, puts them out of office, removes them by force.” In the night refers to the time of their overthrow and emphasizes that it happens in the darkness of night, when they least expect it. Crushed is the final consequence of being overthrown. Crushed is parallel with shatters in verse 24a and shows the parallelism reaching from verse 24a through to verse 25b.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .